Damn, a lot of big mangas are ending this year with Horimiya, the widely renown rom-com, being one of them. Surprisingly, I never really heard of Horimiya before the anime. After the first episode though, I was interested in seeing how things would play out and binged the manga in one night. And now here I am, watching something cherished by many going out with a bang.
However, I gotta say I don't think Horimiya is as amazing a masterpiece as people make it out to be. Trigger warning, but I actually think it's quite overrated: it's good, but at least in my books, it's not a 10. The story starts off pretty good, we have good character development at times, but the plot really fell off at a certain point, and it just felt like nothing was really happening in certain chapters. I get that it's supposed to be a slice of life and stuff, but I think we had more slices than we needed: more isn't always better.
That being said, Horimiya was still an enjoyable read. Is it something I'll reread in the future? Very unlikely, but as something I binged in a night, it was quite good.
Story: 6/10
Horimiya, a rom-com, is supposed to be a story primarily about how everyone has sides they don't want to show others, with some slight dashes of slice of life seasoning. While Horimiya does touch on the themes of feeling like a social outcast and social norms as a teenager, I can't help but feel like it wasn't as good as it could have been. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of touching chapters and moments where characters learn to grow and stuff, but I felt like there wasn't really a solid thematic throughout the entirety of the story. After a while, it was less about people overcoming their problems and just watching everyone get along with each other/their significant others. It was nice at first, but it did get quite boring after a while, especially for monthly releases, to just be tuning in to the same stuff reskinned over and over.
And I think this fault goes back to Horimiya's lack of a concrete plot. It starts out great, we see actual development in our characters, and we get to see them navigate relationships. But there isn't really a plot to follow. It's truly just a slice of life. And after a while, that can get a bit boring/repetitive, especially when we don't see much development/change to the main cast or the side characters. While the story was fair, I still think there was a huge missed opportunity to explore the themes brought up in the beginning but kind of forgotten near the end, and the slice of life format for the latter half of the manga ended up hurting itself more than helping. That being said, I will applaud Horimiya for having a serviceable final chapter, something a lot of mangas can't even seem to pull off.
Art: 9/10
Very nicely drawn, great emotions and character designs: overall, the manga is very visually appealing.
Character: 7/10
I really like Horimiya's characters because I think they did a great job of being realistic teenagers dealing with life and love in high school. It's not as simple as some people would make it out to be, but it's not overly exaggerated for the sake of comedy or drama. It really does feel like you're watching real people grow and learn.
That being said, I think character development just kind of disappeared after a while. We start off with getting Miyamura and Hori's development, up until they're in a relationship. Once they tie the knot, we explore the side characters and their lives/relationships as they develop. But for the latter, it's just kind of brushed off around 50-70% through the series. I wouldn't mind if their development was shelved to further explore Hori and Miyamura's dynamic and develop them further, but it isn't. It just goes to regular slice of life stuff, which is kind of sad considering how much more development and depth we could've gotten out the characters, especially the side ones: their entire arcs/developments can pretty much be concluded in 3-4 chapters which is a bit underwhelming.
As for the comedy aspect, it was good to start, but just like the slice of life part, it got a bit predictable and repetitive halfway through the manga. However, I still found the occasional jokes or gags humourous, but not really enough to make me chuckle or crack a wide smile.
Enjoyment: 7/10
With all that said, I still think Horimiya is a great read. As someone who was fortunate enough to binge almost the entire manga (122 chapters actually) all at once, I can definitely say I suffered less than those forced to wait entire months for releases. But even then, I gotta say for the last 30 chapters or so, I was just mindlessly reading and hitting "next chapter", waiting for something big or interesting to happen. And as a result, I don't think I will ever reread Horimiya because I can't say it'd be worth the time: the latter parts of the manga are just too repetitive and boring to be worth a reread (although they could pass for a first-time read).
For me, Horimiya is one of those things you enjoy the first time around, but after you've caught up/finished, I ask you to sit on it and think: how many unique moments or chapters can you truly remember? For me, it's not that much. And that's a bit depressing for a manga that started off so well.
